The Galapagos Islands and arachnophobia - do they mix?

I'm on an extended trip round South America and will be visiting Ecuador for a few weeks. in March. Since I'm going to be so close to the Galapagos Islands, it seemed like a good opportunity to visit them relatively cheaply. I spent a few hours researching flights and came within a gnat's whisker of booking, when I suddenly thought I'd better check up on the spider situation.

I am scared of spiders. Point, laugh, tell me it's irrational, that they're more scared of me than I am of them, that they're great as they keep insects down. All true. It doesn't matter. Under normal circumstances my fear isn't crippling, the sort of spiders one encounters in a UK town or city (I hear stories about the country...) are borderline tolerable, though no way am I touching a large one.

But although my web searching turned up mostly tales of encounters in huts in the middle of nowhere - and I usually figure that if I avoid such accommodation, I'll be OK - I found stuff like this:

"Heteropoda venatoria are often seen in hotel rooms on the islands, and occasionally on boats." (Google Books result from "Galapagos Wildlife" by David Horwell and Pete Oxford)

"Heteropoda venatoria... body size: female to 30mm; male to 22mm... At night, it emerges from its hiding place to wander over walls. Adults occur throughout the year." (www.nhm.ac.uk)

Yes, I know they are harmless (unless they cause me to have a heart attack!), it's the prospect of encountering one that worries me.

My Lonely Planet guide book makes no mention whatsoever of this kind of thing. Am I naive in assuming that, given how relatively common a phobia this is, if it was a serious problem it would get a mention?

I am strongly inclined to give the islands a miss now. Yes, this is letting my phobia control my life. No, it's not preventing me from fulfulling a major ambition - I wasn't too fussed about visiting the islands until I came to work out my itinerary for the next few weeks and thought "why not, if I can do it cheaply, since I'm going to be in the vicinity?". But it would be nice to go and it would be a shame to let this scare me off if it's not likely to be a problem in the first place.

So, how much of a risk is there of encountering something like this? Any advice appreciated.

I have visited Galapagos Islands twice, for two weeks and three weeks. I can't remember seeing any spiders. Maybe I did by it is nothing I have any memories of. Galapagos Islands is definitely not a place where you will see lots of spiders.

I have been cruising and travelling in the Galapagos last July/August for 5 weeks and don't recall seeing spiders either. Not on the cruise boat, not in hotel rooms en not even in a lava tube, where I kind of expected to see them. I think Galapagos is one of the very few places with little to no creepie crawlies that I've visited, ever.

Hi

Spiders won't be a problem for you in Galapagos, I have been on a number of occasions and they are not something you come across, and if you do I am sure that it will be no worse than a house spider that you would see in the UK. But again I have never experienced spiders in Galapagos so I wouldn't let it stop you going to this amazing place! PS I don't like spiders very much either!

Visited last year the islands for a week. My partner is paranoid for spiders as well. I can't remember we've seen 1 at all, my partner neither!

Have fun and enjoy the sharks, maybe the most dangerous animals over there.

Hi there,
I sympathize since I decided not to go to the Amazon due to my fear of spiders. We just returned from 9 wonderful days in the Galapagos. We never once saw a spider. It doesn't mean that there might not be some that you see, however, it is certainly not a destination that I would avoid because of a high (or medium) incidence of spiders. I hope you get to go-the Galapagos are awesome!
Rocky 57

Or...could skip on the Galapagos for now, save some money and get a decent therapy...

Hi ZornsLemma,

I have a stepson who is in the military, who is deathly afraid of spiders, so I understand. It’s ironic that you are traveling through the South American but are worried about spiders in the Galapagos. Before I forget, avoid the Amazon. There are only about 50 species of spiders in the Galapagos. I’ve been to the Galapagos on more occasions than one can count on the fingers of both hands and I have only seen one spider in all that time. It was in the Santa Cruz highlands (you will spend most of your time at the coast) and we had to go out of our way to see it.

Because 90% of the Galapagos is a national park and the only way to access the great majority of the Park’s visitor sites is on a live aboard vessel that takes you on a cruise through islands you will be happy to know that few, if any, spiders manage to stow away. So avoid sleeping in a shed in the highlands and stay aboard a yacht and you will probably not see any spiders, while at the same time seeing more of what the archipelago has to offer. Did I mention for you to avoid Australia?